Wednesday, January 31, 2018
A Professor from well known University lambasted Grace Poe on Fake News hearing
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| Photo credit to the owners |
Professor Vicente Angel Ybiernas, recently posted in his Facebook account pointed his opinion to the chairperson of the Senate public information committee Grace Poe during the resumption of the hearing on the fake news.
Prof Ybiernas, in his post, said that no one is spreading a fake news about to an ordinary people as no one seems interested about the lives of the ordinary and the target of the false news are those popular and the rich and so is Grace Poe who wants to protect herself from the hearing.
"Walang nagkakalat ng fake news tungkol sa ordinaryong tao. Bakit? Kasi walang interesado sa buhay ng ordinaryong tao.
Ang target ng fake news ay yung sikat, makapangyarihan at/o mayaman."
The University professor also added his views about fake news that all false information does not mean a fake news, it is sometimes a mere hearsay that spreads and an intriguing issue that is only invented.
"Hindi fake news ang lahat ng maling impormasyon.
Minsan tsismis lang na kinakalat.
Minsan inimbentong kwento.
Hindi pwedeng tawaging fake news ang lahat na pinapakalat ng mga hindi naman news agency.
Ang ikinakalat ng isang ORDINARYONG tao, gaya ng nasabi ko na, ay tsismis o imbentong kwento. Hindi fake news."
His post concluded a statement that said " Mukhang kailangan nyo masampal para matauhan."
Read the Full Facebook post of Professor Vicente Angel Ybiernas:
"So no surprise they are wasting time and money on a useless hearing on fake news.
1. Walang nagkakalat ng fake news tungkol sa ordinaryong tao. Bakit? Kasi walang interesado sa buhay ng ordinaryong tao.
Ang target ng fake news ay yung sikat, makapangyarihan at/o mayaman.
So ang nais protektahan ni Grace Poe sa hearing na ito ay ang sarili nya at ang mga kagaya nya na target ng fake news.
Hindi ito para sa bayan.
2. WEAPONS OF THE WEAK ang fake news. Armas ito ng mahihina laban sa malalakas.
Ang taong mahihina na galit sa malalakas, pupunta sa computer o cellphone at mag-si-share ng content na laban sa mga sikat, makapangyarihan at mayaman na kinabubwisitan nila.
Ikaw yun, Grace Poe!
Sa mundo ng social media, walang mayaman walang mahirap. Tsansa na ito ng di-kilala, mahihina at mahihirap bumawi sa kinabu-bwisitan nila.
Op kors, di ko sinabing tama ito.
Pero kaululan na sabihing para sa bayan ang paglaban sa fake news.
Ang mga katulad lang ni Grace Poe ang makikinabang dyan.
3. Hindi fake news ang lahat ng maling impormasyon.
Minsan tsismis lang na kinakalat.
Minsan inimbentong kwento.
Hindi pwedeng tawaging fake news ang lahat na pinapakalat ng mga hindi naman news agency.
Ang ikinakalat ng isang ORDINARYONG tao, gaya ng nasabi ko na, ay tsismis o imbentong kwento. Hindi fake news.
4. Magkita kita nga tayo ngayon at pagsasampalin ko kayo. Mukhang kailangan nyo masampal para matauhan.
Mga ulol!"
****
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Source: Van Ybiernas | Facebook Post
http://www.trendinsiderph.com/2018/01/a-professor-from-well-known-university.html
Senate inquiry on “fake news” turns into pointless finger-pointing exercise
It’s not clear what Senator Grace Poe as the chairman for the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media wanted to achieve in conducting a hearing on fake news. The hearing did not have any clear objective. Poe just allowed the resource speakers to state their claim and then… nothing. She doesn’t even ask for proof to support the mainly Yellow resource persons’ accusations.
Well, the hearing did have a tendency to paint President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters as the only source of fake news, which is wrong. We all know the Opposition has their own army of trolls and allies in mainstream media who spread negative propaganda against their enemies. Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Marie T. Badoy was correct in saying that current Vice President Leni Robredo has a habit of spreading false information and giving the wrong perception of the state of the nation not just to Filipinos, but to the members of the international community as well.
Badoy cited the time Robredo made a video specifically addressed to the United Nations expressing her concerns about the government’s war on drugs. Without checking the facts and getting the correct data from the Philippine National Police, Robredo appealed to the UN for help and claimed that “the body count due to drug-related killings keeps growing.” She added:
We are now looking at some very grim statistics: since July last year, more than 7,000 people have been killed in summary executions.
That was very slack and irresponsible of Robredo. As I said before, Robredo made serious allegations based on hearsay. She has pissed off the Philippine National Police by painting them under a bad light. She didn’t even ask them for clarification about their scheme “palit-ulo”, which is “a commitment of a drug suspect to provide assistance in the arrest of a ‘bigger fish’ in the illegal drug syndicate.”
In a recent speech during the 72nd anniversary of the Liberal Party, Robredo also claimed that “darkness” is shrouding the nation. Just because her party is not in control, doesn’t mean the nation is in darkness. The Philippines may have a long way to go to achieve real progress, but the Liberal Party held the country back even more with their incompetence and negligence. Robredo failed to mention that.
Retired political science professor at the University of the Philippines Clarita Carlos was compelled to rebut Robredo’s negative assessment:
Carlos acknowledged that not all of the reforms under the current administration have been successful but said that the chief executive has only been in office for only one and a half years.“It will take some time, remember we are still one a half years’ time to this administration. There are many, many other things which we needed to change. Transport for one, there’s a lot to be done there. But let’s not be in a hurry because all these things which are ills of our society have been planted there for decades already”.
It’s high time Robredo is held accountable for the nonsense she keeps spewing. She also contributes to the dumbing down of Philippine society with her idiotic statements.
The second hearing actually turned into a Mocha Uson burning session. While the Assistant Secretary for Presidential Communications Operations Office was not available for the hearing, it did not stop her critics in the hearing to talk about her. That wasn’t right. Uson did not have a chance to defend herself. Her boss, Secretary of PCOO Martin Andanar, was around to answer questions about Uson’s activities, but Andanar was not in a good position to answer for her. The best he could do was to promise to speak to Uson.
There was nothing that the Yellow resource speakers said in the second hearing that they didn’t say during the first hearing, which made the second hearing pointless. It was obvious the Yellows, particularly Senator Bam Aquino, just wanted to emphasise once again that only Duterte supporters are purveyors of “fake news”. He even submitted a list of sites that he thinks is a source of fake news and wants the authorities to investigate who operates them. It seems Aquino is trying to stifle dissent by scaring independent bloggers who criticise him. Who is he to judge what fake news is anyway?
Embattled Rappler CEO Maria Ressa was also present in the Senate hearing as a resource person. Ressa is everywhere these days spewing the same narrative over and over painting Rappler as a victim of Duterte’s war against his critics from mainstream media. Never mind that she violated the Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law. She needs all the exposure she can get to help her cause to “take back the Internet”. She lamented about the number hate speeches she has been receiving and claims they all come from Duterte’s supporters. She said that the end goal of hate speeches is to silence dissent. That’s odd. GRPost is older than Rappler. We’ve been receiving hate speech from the Yellows since Day One, but that didn’t stop us from expressing our dissent. Only crybabies get affected by trolls.
Not to be outdone, social commentator Tonyo Cruz too gave his two cents. He suggested that the government should have a “policy to ban hate speech, cyberbullying, name-calling, racism, and other discriminatory speech in official government platforms”. He would be the first to be banned because he is known for accusing other people he doesn’t agree with as paid hacks, mercenaries and frequent use of ad hominem arguments. His speech is full of hate against Duterte and his supporters. Even non-Duterte supporters who criticise the Liberal Party are not spared. He calls them Marcos supporters. He does not bother to back his accusations either. In other words, Tonyo is a hypocrite for advocating against hate speech and cyberbullying since he is guilty of doing the same things.
The once anonymous turned “darling of the media” blogger Jover Laurio of Pinoy Ako Blog was also present during the hearing. They were treating her like some kind of “expert” on fake news. Perhaps it’s because she is fond of spreading negative propaganda. She didn’t add anything significant to the hearing. Laurio simply accused Uson of creating divisiveness and hatred. I suppose she thinks she creates “unity” with her posts making fun of Duterte and wishing he and his family die in a plane crash. Just like her fellow yellows, Laurio thinks she has a monopoly on righteousness. Her blog site is biased against Duterte. She doesn’t write anything negative about the BS Aquino government. She even praises the Liberal Party even though a lot of the issues that haunt the Philippines today were due to the previous government’s neglect.
Laurio’s presence did not make any difference at all. Had she brought in Cocoy Dayao – the guy who setup her blog – that would have made a big difference. Dayao refuses to come out of hiding after he was outed as the person who allegedly registered Laurio’s blogsite. But I’m sure Laurio is still in contact with him. Poe could have asked Laurio about him.
Senator Manny Pacquiao promised to summon Dayao, Facebook and Google for the next hearing. It’s not clear if he was talking about Mark Zuckerberg and all the Google executives from Silicon Valley though. That would be interesting. But if they do attend, let’s hope Senator Poe will have a better agenda and a clearer objective. Otherwise, it will be a waste of everyone’s time.
January 31, 2018 - Made for God
Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
Mark 6:1-6
He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.
Introductory Prayer: O Lord, you said that blest are they who find no stumbling block in you. I want to be a blest person, so that you may find in me no obstacle to the holiness you want for me. I believe in you, but I long for a greater faith to see and respond to the signs of your hand moving in my world. I love you, Lord, and wish to lead my brothers and sisters to you through my testimony, through my being truly convinced that you are the life of men.
Petition: Lord, grant me the gift of total surrender to your will for me in all things.
1. “Where did this man get all this? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands”: How beautiful it is to contemplate the humble and meek Christ! He now manifests, to the shock and awe of the worldly-minded, the signs of his true origin and the nature of his true mission. The power of God, the power of the supernatural, now intervenes in what is merely natural through the mere “carpenter’s son.” The “signs of credibility” that Christ enacts through his mighty words and deeds powerfully point to his divine origins and invite his contemporaries to faith. It is an invitation to leave behind them the superficial category of Jesus as just a nice neighbor (which means they can live the same as before) and receive the gift of Christ as Redeemer (which means change and conversion). Are there signs in my life that the Lord is looking to change me, to change my behavior in some way so I might live more by faith and charity? How much longer will I resist before I will am won over by his goodness?
2. “And they took offense at him”: It is a sacrifice to give God his place in the ordinary flow of our day. To do so, we need to sacrifice our sense of self-sufficiency, by which we are inclined to be the prime mover of everything in our world. We need to sacrifice our vanity, which desists from efforts to adore God since they bring little or no applause from those around us. We need to sacrifice the comfort of our naturalism, our horizontal view of things. Ultimately this sacrifice is a work of love responding to a divine invitation to share in God’s life––love, because he is asking and wants to see us giving. Let us move our hearts to embrace this sacrifice joyfully, for the sake of love. It helps to see that in this passage there are no neutral states. Those who reject the invitation to love are turned to love’s opposite––hate, specifically the hatred of the supernatural. It is a tragedy at work in our culture in many places, giving rise to the forces of anti-evangelization. Let us pray and be vigilant that it may never become our tragedy.
3. “He was not able to perform any mighty deed there”: Our Lord makes himself vulnerable to us, to our willingness to believe. He comes only to make us happy and to elevate our lives to be more beautiful, deeper in meaning and richer in fruits. He wants to bring into our life his power to work miracles and to move mountains of fear and burdens that we encounter. He comes to be ointment for our wounds and consolation for our weary hearts. The only thing he needs to make us happy, then, is our faith, our unconditional and active faith. Without it (since he respects our freedom), we cripple his capacity to act in our life as Savior and Lord. How sad it is to see how easily we refuse such a selfless and beautiful gift.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, teach me to receive you with a heart ready to leave my rationalistic way of acting and choosing. Help me to know how to read your invitations with supernatural faith and to follow them in true obedience, where true love proves itself.
Resolution: I will be very obedient to the lights I receive today from the Holy Spirit, acting on them with promptness and generosity.
Maria Ressa continues to LIE about the “death” of “press freedom” in the Philippines
It’s been several weeks since the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a shutter order to “social news network” Rappler for violation of constitutional provisions banning foreign control of media businesses in the country. Over that period, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa has campaigned vigorously to spin this compliance violation into one around an imagined issue of “press freedom”.
In her latest “report” to her loyal readers, Ressa asserts how the “SEC order [was] meant to silence us [and] muzzle free expression” while linking to the most recent of her beleaguered organisation’s stunts — filing an appeal with the Court of Appeals (CA) to continue to deny that Rappler had violated any laws…
The 68-page petition argues that contrary to the decision of the SEC, the agreement between Rappler and foreign investor Omidyar Network (ON) does not constitute control.The petition also bares similar agreements between network giants ABS-CBN and GMA News with its foreign investors, which the SEC has not faulted, and which it did not investigate.
In his Inquirer column yesterday, Oscar Franklin Tan pointed out the dishonesty in the public statements Rappler had been publishing about the case. Notable among these is the idea that the SEC move is the start of some sort of “assault on press freedom” being mounted by the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. According to Tan, this not consistent with the SEC position which is very clear on the specific items in regulation surrounding the issuance of the types of funding agreements in question. The SEC report points out that clauses that extend “veto rights” are provided in Rappler‘s agreement with its foreign funder Omidyar Network. These rights are not found in similar instruments issued by ABS-CBN and GMA to their respective investors.
Indeed, the SEC order does not, in any way, present a future threat to any other news media network. This is all about Rappler‘s violation of the Constitution. And the threat to “press freedom” is all in the minds of Ressa and her Rapplerettes.
If there is any actual threat to “free speech”, it can be found in how Rappler goes about reporting about its own predicament. Rather than highlight the true facts surrounding its case which all point not just to Ressa’s negligence as CEO but to a seemingly deliberate effort mounted by her company to circumvent corporate regulation, Rappler‘s reporters put up mere strawmen.
Ressa and her henchwomen are actually the ones abusing their freedom by baldly misleading the public. Tan puts it quite succinctly: “Free speech cannot justify Rappler’s misleading coverage of Rappler”. Ressa should heed the words of the venerable Oprah Winfrey: Time is up. So is the jig.
Rappler is all but exposed as a non-viable business venture and, worse, a channel out of which dishonest journalism is served to an unwitting Filipino public.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
January 30, 2018 - Touched by Faith
Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, who should I turn to first but you? You have given me another day. This gift calls me to come to you first, to hear you first. My faith tells me there can be nothing better than to follow your plan; my hope is to bring you into my life and to other people; my love wants to be fuller and better — it wants to be like yours, Lord.
Petition: Grant me the grace of deeper trust and faith in all moments of hardship.
1. “…afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.” When problems are prolonged, or reach fever-pitch levels, we can get the mistaken impression that God has lost interest. Somehow he seems no longer moved by our misery. All the signs say he has forgotten us, abandoned us and left us hanging.
But God is only seemingly absent. He is creating a new set of circumstances wherein we can experience him at a wholly new level. The long, hard and persevering fight to walk in hope enables God to bring about greater fruits of holiness in us.
In the woman with the hemorrhage and in Jairus, father of a dying daughter, we must contemplate a mature and vibrant faith, observing how it conquers pessimism and transcends the cold calculations and superficial tones of their peers. Truly this is the first miracle we see that Jesus has worked for them, and the most important one.
2. “And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out.” The dismal voices of his “friends” come to the father. Though they have seen the miracle of the woman with the hemorrhage, they coldly say, “Your daughter is dead. Be realistic. It is no use to go on.” True, in the name of realism, we can dismiss hope and cooperation with Christ’s action in our life. We can ridicule Christ whenever he wants to work in mystery and outside our human limits. We can be tempted to abandon trust in God in the name of reaffirming control over our world. “Let’s be realistic,” we say. “It will never work.” These phrases veil a weak faith, a poor faith, a sterile or compartmentalized faith that works only when everything makes sense to us, when everything is easy. Where there is this lack of faith, Christ cannot work.
3. “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Many say they are near Christ, yet few are acknowledged by Christ as close to him. Many were brushing against him that day, many were verbally praising him, many were serving him, but only one touched him and got his full attention. Why? Only one made an act of unconditional faith. What is the secret? How can we really get his attention, truly speak to his heart? None are closer than those who trust him, who humbly depend on him, and who wish to live from him. The woman’s unconditional faith was open to whatever would happen, whatever would be Christ’s response. Those who suffer and support themselves patiently with faith and prayer experience new levels of union with Christ.
Conversation with Christ: Lord let me use hardships to build newer levels of trust and intimacy with you. Open my heart to seek you on your terms.
I do not ask you for happiness or sorrow,
Health or sickness,
Riches or poverty,
Freedom or slavery,
Goods or evils;
For goods are misfortunes if you do not come with them,
And misfortunes are goods if they arrive with you.
For goods without you, what good would they be?
And misfortunes with you, are they not the best goods?
Resolution: I will acknowledge the presence of Christ in all the difficulties of today.
Bringing Down or Ousting People never Solved Anything
It’s clear that the so-called “opposition” is in favor of “bringing down” President Rodrigo Duterte more than anything else. They want him ousted, continuing that long cherished but flawed belief that ousting people will lead to improvement in the country’s situation. The problem is, ousting people is anything but a solution, and it reflects lack of understanding of the related issues and a knee-jerk reaction mentality.
Replacing the person will not remove corruption. People thought that after bringing down a dictator, someone incorruptible would magically appear and set things rights. Sadly, the reality that so many other people are corrupt and that they are the ones that replaced the dictator. Put away Ali baba, and 40 thieves come to take his place. It’s so easy for a hanky-panky-filled politician to claim to be “uncorrupt” and take the place of whoever they bumped off.
Look at Tunisia. Hosni Kaliya, one of the people who set himself on fire in protest (but survived), spurring the Arab Spring revolts and the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, regretted his action. He says while they seem freer, life remains difficult. He probably hoped that life would be more comfortable (for others, at least) after a protest, but it was the same. As for the other guy who self-immolated and died, Mohamed Bouazizi, his family has been on the receiving end of harassment from people who blame their dead relative for making things worse. On relative even said life was better under the term of the now-ousted president. Ousting Ben Ali did not make life easier. Apply that to the local situation, many people now believe we are worse off after the EDSA Revolution.
Sure, removal from a position is needed when the rules call for it. But that should be done because it’s the rule, not because you just want it. There are times when ousting is not possible; sometimes, you have to accept it. A better measure would be to keep holding people in that position accountable, making more demands and doing the check-and-balance work. That is what citizens should actually be doing. Then there are laws to enforce, some to change, business environments to make better for people, freeloading to rebuff, and more.
Here’s a moot point, but worth mentioning here: you know what has been said about putting people in jail, such as a murderer. Justice has been served. A criminal has been put away to prevent him from committing any crime while incarcerated. But you can’t bring back the dead, and restitution and recovery make up a different thing. For example, for example, if a breadwinner was killed, those he left either scramble for “assistance” or will have to move on with life and support themselves. The latter is always the better option.
Why Shaming of People Fails
But let’s say, you have a situation where ousting someone is out of the question. It’s not just about people in power; let’s say you have this annoying neighbor you hate, he may be homophobic, has strong opinions you hate, has a hobby you detest, etc. Unless he’s proven to be a threat to you, you can’t have him removed. It’s frustrating, and you hate it. So what do you resort to?Shaming the person.
Trolling, insulting and badmouthing people online or offline has been the resort of some of the “opposition.” Jover Laurio has been cited often here as an example. But it hasn’t helped. It has only deepened conflict and actually brought more people against them. In fact, a lot of the shaming methods used are even based on falsehoods – the real “fake news.”
Shaming people never solved anything long-term. Todd Leopold on CNN says some shaming campaigns reduced homophobia, but that seems only an illusion to me. He does admit online shaming has done more harm than good. As I mentioned before, one gay writer agrees that shaming homophobics is “no longer OK” – and it never was. Shaming campaigns may shut people up temporarily, but it can’t destroy one’s resolve to uphold what they believe.
But let’s look at why shaming and hurting other people is so popular: because it sends dopamine to the brain. As Leopold wrote, “outrage and demonization can be more satisfying than compassion.” Perhaps it’s an attempt to get over the frustration that someone you dislike cannot be removed. Might as well try to make them feel miserable as a consolation. It may make one feel better, but that’s that. No other substantial results. And let me remind you, that “feeling better” can be ruined by the consequences, such as the one you are shaming getting back at you even better than you can. In this way, shaming is not a “brave attempt,” but an admission of failure.
Perhaps activists resort to shaming because they are unable to support their advocacy thoroughly. Or they don’t really support their advocacy at all, and are just pretending. All they know is attack other people – probably because they don’t know any better thing to do in life.
Calls for ousting and shaming are now futile and irrelevant. Instead of ousting and attacking people, people should just hold their representatives responsible. Mechanisms are in place for this, but it needs work. We need to participate in the process rather than just insult them on Facebook. And if ever we are to participate in discourse, political or otherwise, we should stop letting our basic instincts take over us and we should apply careful, sober thinking in it.
And at times, who you want to oust is never meant to be ousted. In fact, instead of people, we must oust our bad habits and wrong beliefs. Many things that we cherish are among the practices that bring us down, and these are the real contributors to our societal maladies. Removal of these continues to be the thrust of this blog. This is also a more long-term solution, as ousting someone is only for the short-term.
‘2 more kids dead, dozens in hospital’
VACC VERIFYING LATEST REPORTS ON DENGVAXIA
BY JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA, TMT ON JANUARY 29, 2018
BY JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA, TMT ON JANUARY 29, 2018
TWO more children from the provinces of Quezon and Laguna who were inoculated with the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia died on Sunday, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said, quoting reports they received from a joint monitoring team.
The group said 52 children administered with the vaccine were being treated at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
Dante Jimenez, chairman of the VACC, on Sunday said he received information about the two deaths from the joint monitoring team of the VACC and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).
“They are now verifying the incidents and the PAO forensics are expected to conduct an autopsy on the victims either today or tomorrow (Monday),” Jimenez said in an interview with The Manila Times.
He did not provide further details on the profiles of the victims.
“Something should be done immediately. This is already becoming a catastrophe. Dengvaxia-related deaths are happening on a daily basis,” Jimenez added.
COUNTDOWN Parents of children inoculated with Dengvaxia hold placards to announce their plan to hold a protest rally in front of the Department of Health. PHOTO BY BOB DUNGO JR.
Including these latest reports from Quezon and Laguna, the number of children’s deaths linked to Dengvaxia has jumped to 13.
The VACC chief revealed that 52 children who were inoculated with Dengvaxia were confined at the San Larazo Hospital.
The figure does not include the children currently confined at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and other government hospitals in Metro Manila.
Mounting autopsies
Chief Public Attorney Persida Acosta confirmed the hospitalization of 52 children, saying the patients came from Iloilo.
“Similar ang findings [the findings are similar]…’yung mga bata nahihilo, nilalagnat, sumasakit ang katawan at may nakitang mga rashes sa kanila [the children were feeling dizzy, feverish, experiencing body pain, and had rashes],” Acosta said.
These are some of the most common symptoms of dengue, including muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting, and bleeding from the mouth and nose.
“Bakit nila ginamit ng walang screening at walang clinical trial [why did they use the vaccine without conducting a screening and clinical trials? Halos dalawa ang ino-autopsy namin sa isang araw (kaugnay ng) kasong ‘to [PAO has been conducting at least two autopsies a day in relation to the case],” Acosta said.
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur announced in November last year that the Dengvaxia vaccine might cause severe symptoms of dengue to those inoculated with it without prior exposure to the infection.
Last week, PAO conducted a forensic examination on the 11th suspected Dengvaxia fatality in Caloocan City.
The boy, Aejay Bautista, died after a five-day bout with dengue. He was previously inoculated with Dengvaxia, the world’s first anti-dengue vaccine, which was developed by Sanofi Pasteur.
The VACC said about 830,000 children from public schools in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Cebu have been injected with Dengvaxia since 2016.
More than 300 families of recipients of the vaccine have sought the PAO’s assistance as of January.
Acosta said PAO is preparing documents for the legal actions it plans to take against those responsible for the deaths.
“Yung affidavits of complainants, complete na [the affidavits of complainants are now complete]. Documents are being consolidated for the filing of charges against those who are behind this,” she said.
The Department of Health suspended the dengue vaccination program in December after Sanofi issued a warning that Dengvaxia may causes severe dengue on those who have not been infected with the virus.
WITH GLEE JALEA
http://www.manilatimes.net/2-kids-dead-dozens-hospital/377077/
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